What Are Some Good Deck Sealers?

Cabot, DAP, Flood, Olympic and Thompson's make good oil-based deck sealers. In addition to oil-based deck sealers, Wolman also sells water-based sealers, as does American Building Restoration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory says that oil-based products penetrate deeper into the wood and provide long-lasting and better protection.

During application, the wood being treated must be completely dry for oil-based sealers but can be damp if using water-based coating. Wait at least nine months to apply coatings on any new pressure-treated wood decks to allow the wood to fully dry and open up to more of the sealer. If a mill glazed wood is used, it has a waxy finish that does not allow sealers to penetrate.